Another Tour of Trinidad and Tobago stage cancelled

Dubbed the “Compton Gonsalves Stage”, the eighth segment of the Tour followed in similar footsteps of the seventh, and was unavoidably abandoned due to the heavy rainfall particularly in the Oropouche area. This was the second consecutive stage that has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. On Wednesday, the seventh stage (Fitzroy Hoyte) was also cancelled in Tobago after a disagreement between the route organisers and the island’s police. Now, the trailing riders will have to work even harder to shorten the time gap between current leader Edwin Avila Vanegas of Cycling Team Kreiger.

This means that the final two stages (Ahamad Charles and Cedric Weekes) of the Tour will see an increased level of overall competition, as riders seek to compensate for the past two stages.

While the race’s intensity may be elevated, foreign-based rider Emile Abraham expressed some disappointment with yesterday’s cancellation.

Already a distant 14 seconds from the coveted Yellow Jersey, Abraham admitted that the race cancellations have been taking a toll on his visiting Rossetti Devo Cycling Team. He gave a detailed explanation of the flood waters in Oropouche yesterday.

“The water was like three feet high - cyclists, vehicles and even officials got stuck. It was a bit tough for us (team) because we went out there today (yesterday) to capitalise on our previous performances. We were having good performances throughout the race but now all that hard work went in vain as this stage is now done (cancelled),” he explained.

While he acknowledged that the cancellations were of no fault to the organisers, Abraham revealed that his team may be growing a bit weary of the constant unexpected obstructions being done to the general Tour.

“At this point it’s a challenge to stay fully focussed. The team members are getting a bit demotivated but we’re still going to give it our all. We had a good chance to minimise the gap between those ahead of us today (yesterday) but now we have to start all over again tomorrow (today). Everyone’s a bit here and there as the race goes along. We just hope that we can complete the following two stages and record some good results for the team,” he added.

Today will see the start of the Ahamad Charles Stage from 2pm. The 96km course is scheduled to pedal off from Frisco Junction in Point Fortin, and flows through Erin, Palo Seco, Siparia, Penal, Debe, unto Ste Madeleine, Princes Town, Rio Claro, to conclude at the BP Resource Centre in Mayaro.